Finger-painting device

ABSTRACT

A device for finger painting or finger art. A cap member bearing paint or marking substance is attachable to the tip of the finger of the user. The cap member is flexibly or fixedly secured to a marking member which retains the paint or marking substance.

United States Patent [72] lnventors William Tollin;

Harriet Tollin, both .01 109 Woodlane South, Woodsburgh, N.Y. 11598 [21] Appl. No. 806,402 [22} Filed Mar. 12, 1969 [45] Patented Aug. 3, 1971 [54] FINGER-PAINTING DEVICE 9 Claims, 9 Drawing Figs.

[52] US. Cl 401/7, 35/26, 101/368, 101/406 [51 1 Int. Cl A46b 5/04 [50] Field oiSearch 401/7, 8; 15/227; 101/406, 368, 371; 35/18.5, 26

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 36,652 10/1862 Jacobs 401/8 109,302 11/1870 Donne1lan 101/371 X Browne Molt Stevens Niznansky Smith Ramsey 4/1960 Chamber1in.. 9/1965 Onanian FOREIGN PATENTS 7/1926 Switzerland Primary Examiner-Harland S. Skogquist Attorney-Sparrow and Sparrow ABSTRACT: A device for finger painting or finger art. A cap member bearing paint or marking substance is attachable to the tip of the finger of the user. The cap member is flexibly or fixedly secured to a marking member which retains the paint or marking substance.

FINGER-PAINTING DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the finger-painting art, the marking or painting substance has, in the past, adhered to the fingers of the user. As a result, it was required that the fingers be cleansed prior to each change of color. Furthermore, with the fingertips 'of the user dipped into the paint or marking substance proper, it has not been possible to achieve predetermined designs involving ribbed formations, scrolls or serration type of designs. It is a disederatum of the present invention to overcome the foregoing inconveniences and disadvantages by providing a fingertip engaging device associated with marking means in order that the user may freely transfer the marking means to a surface without soiling the fingers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A finger art device in which a cap member preferably made' of plastic may be slipped over the tip of a users finger. The cap is preferably fiexibly secured to a marking member which holds the substance with which a desired surface is to be painted or marked. The joint between the cap and the marking member is of the universal type of joint design, permitting the marking member to move freely angularly with respect to the cap member fitting over the tip of the finger. Through the free relative motion between the cap and the marking member, it is possible to mark or finger paint a surface at any angle with respect to the direction of the finger or fingertip.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a device which may be slipped over the tip of the finger of the user, and to which marking substance is attached or adheres so that the user may freely transfer the marking substance to a surface as desired.

It is a specific object to provide such a finger art device in which the element or member carrying the marking substance is orientable with regard to the direction of the fingertip in relation to the surface being marked.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a device for finger art, of the preceding character, which may be placed over the fingertips, and which will maintain the fingertips free from paint or marking substance while in the process of being used.

Various further and more specific purposes, features and advantages will clearly appear from the detailed description given below taken in connection with the accompanying drawing which forms part of this specification and illustrates merely by way of example embodiments of the device of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the following description and in the claims, parts will be identified by specific names for convenience, but such names are intended to be as generic in their application to similar parts as the art will permit. Like reference characters denote like parts in the several figures of the drawing, in which FIG. 1 is an elevational view of the disassembled parts of the finger art device, in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an assembled perspective view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the device of FIG. 1 with the parts assembled to each other;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the device of FIG. 1 in modified form;

FIG. 5 is a plan view and shows typical application of the device of FIG. I to different fingers of a user;

FIG. 6 shows a ribbed construction for the marking substance used in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 shows the marking substance used in conjunction with the device of FIG. I, with serrated edges;

FIG. 8 shows the marking substance used in FIG. 1, with spiral design; and

FIG. 9 shows the construction of the marking substance used in conjunction with the device of FIG. 1, when in the form of a sponge impregnated with pigment material.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawing, a cap member 10. may be slipped or passed over the finger of a user. The cap member is preferably made of plastic material in the form of high-impact polystyrene, polypropyl, or polyethylene. The wall 12 of the cap 10 funnels at one end through which the fingertip portion of the user isto be passed. The interior of the wall at this end has a radius or curvature 12a so as to prevent abrasion of the finger surface when the finger is inserted into the cap member. The other end of the cap member terminates in an opening 12b for communicating cooperatively with the marking member 14. The interior contour of the cap member 12 is shaped so as to conform to the fingertip profile of the average user. In this manner, the cap member can be comfortably fitted over the tip of the users finger.

A slot I20 in the wall of the cap has an open end at the rim in the vicinity of the radius 12a. The other end of the slot terminates within the wall 12 of the cap member 10. This slot provides a degree of flexibility for accommodating various sizes of fingertips. Thus, when the cap member is to be used in conjunction with a larger fingertip, the slot 120 can spread a substantial amount to accommodate such a larger finger. In its normal state, on the other hand, the slot is in its contracted form so that the cap member 10 may be usedin conjunction with a slimmer fingertip.

The marking member 14, which is preferably made of plastic material, similar to that used for the cap member, has a joint portion 16 insertable through the opening 12b of the cap member 10. The joint portion 16 is secured to a base portion 18 which carries the marking substance 20. The joint portion 16 has a substantially circular contour in which the circle diameter increases with the distance from the base portion 18. The diameter of the circle 16a which leads into the interior of the cap member 10, by way of the opening 12b, is slightly greater than the diameter of the opening 12b.

The joint portion 16 also includes a slot 16b extending along the longitudinal axis of the joint portion. This slot 16b is open at one end leading into the interior of the cap member 10, and terminates, at the other end, slightly above a connecting portion 16c between the base portion 18 and the joint portion 16. The arrangement is such that the joint portion 16 is securely and fixedly connected to the base portion 18.

To assemble the cap member 10 to the marking member 14, the two members are brought together under slight pressure and the curved or beveled portion 16d is forced against the circular opening 12b. As a result of the slot 16b the diameter 16a contracts through the applied pressure which forces the width of the slot 16b to diminish. With the diameter 16a thus forced into a contracted or reduced state, the diameter 16a becomes admitted through the opening 121) and into the interior of the cap member 10.

With the exception of the circle diameter 16a, all other circle diameters towards the connecting portion 16c, are smaller than the diameter of the opening 121;. Therefore, once the diameter I6a has been forcibly passed through the opening 12b, the slot 16b is again free to expand andto return to its normal uncontracted state. This results from the condition that the surface of the joint portion 16, in contact with the interior of the opening 12b, has a substantially smaller cross-sectional diameter than the diameter 16a. Thus, with the exception of the diameter 16a, all other sectional diameters fit freely through the opening 12b.

The beveled or curved portion 16d facilitates the contraction of the slot 16b and hence the diameter 16a when forcing the latter through the opening 12b. Once the joint portion 16 has been forcibly admitted into the interior of the cap portion I0, and the slot 16b is permitted to return to its original state, the cap member 10 is substantially permanently assembled to the marking member 14, since the joint portion 16 cannot be withdrawn from the interior of the cap member without the application of force. Thus, once inside the interior of the cap member, the diameter 160 will not pass through the opening 12b without applying a substantial amount of force, and as a result the cap member 10 is essentially assembled to the marking member 14 in a substantially permanent manner from the viewpoint of the user. in this assembled state the cap member, nevertheless, may be freely oriented with respect to the base portion 18.

As shown in FIG. 2, the direction 100 of the cap member and hence of the wearer's fingertip, is freely orientable with respect to the axis 14b associated with the marking member 14. This flexibility in orienting angularly the cap member 10 with regard to the marking member 14 is desirable so that the user may mark or paint freely a surface oriented horizontally, vertically, or at any angle between these limits. This flexible angular orienting feature is automatically realized when the cap member is assembled to the marking member through the joint portion 16 extending through the opening 12b.

The orienting feature of the device, in accordance with the present invention, is further flexible in that the device may be worn on different fingers of the user as shown in FIG. 3, and the angular relationship between the cap member 10 and the marking member 14 will automatically adjust itself so that the wearer or user may comfortably mark or paint a surface at any angle. Thus, in a general application in which the device is placed onto a number of fingers of the user, each cap member 10 will have, in general, a different angular orientation with regard to its corresponding marking member 14.

The marking element or substance carried by the marking member 14 through its base portion 18, may be in the form of water color type of pigment, a grease-based paint, or an oil paint, crayon or charcoal, for example. Thus, the marking substance 20 may be of any of the conventional types of painting or marking materials commonly used for artistic purposes. At the same time, the marking substance can have imparted to it a design on the marking surface 20a. Such a design may be in the form of a ribbed portion as shown in FIG. 6, a serrated portion as shown in FIG. 7, or a spiral design as illustrated, for example, in FIG. 8. The marking member or substance 20 may also be in the form of a sponge impregnated with pigment or substance having a color that may be transferred from this sponge to a surface to be marked. A sponge-type arrangement used for the marking substance 20 is shown in FIG. 9.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the cap member 10 is securely fixed to the base portion 18 of the marking member 14 so that the latter is aligned vertically or the axes 10a and 14b are aligned at a predetermined angle, as shown in FIG. 4.

In such an arrangement the cap member is no longer flexibly orientable with respect to the marking member 14, but the device of such design is somewhat simpler from the viewpoint of manufacture. When constructing a fixed device of this type, the angle between the axes 10a and 14b is chosen so as to correspond to a typically average angle which may be encountered in the use of any one of the fingers applicable for this purpose.

When using a water-soluble pigment as the marking substance, the same may be dipped in water by the user and then glided over the surface of the article to be painted. Different colors of pigment may be used on respective devices applied to the fingers (FIG. 5), so that a variety of markings can be simultaneously effected.

While the invention has been described and illustrated with respect to certain preferred examples, it will be understood by those skilled in the art after understanding the principle of the invention, that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

We claim:

1. A finger art device comprising, in combination, a substantially funnel-shaped cap member for fitting over the tip portion of a finger, said cap member having a c osed end, and

having a lateral slot extending longitudinally of said funnel shape and having an opening in said closed end, and a marking member, said marking member having a base, a projection point portion secured to said base, said point portion disposed for being inserted into said opening of said cap member, and said marking member carrying marking substances for marking a surface with which said marking member is brought into contact by said finger art device.

2. A finger art device as defined in claim I, said projection point portion of said marking member having a substantially circular diameter increasing with the distance from said base, said projection point portion of said marking member disposed for penetrating through said opening into said cap member and being freely orientable therein with respect thereto.

3. The finger art device as defined in claim 2, said projection point portion being slotted along the longitudinal axis thereof.

4. The finger art device as defined in claim 1 wherein said cap member is fixedly secured at a predetermined angle to said marking surface.

5. The finger art device as defined in claim 1 wherein said marking substance is of a water color base.

6. The finger art device as defined in claim 1 wherein said marking substance is an oil-base paint.

7. The finger art device as defined in claim 1 wherein said marking substance has marking indicia.

8. The finger art device as defined in claim 7 wherein said indicia is a ribbed surface.

9. The finger art device as defined in claim 7 wherein said indicia is a serrated surface. 

1. A finger art device comprising, in combination, a substantially funnel-shaped cap member for fitting over the tip portion of a finger, said cap member having a closed end, and having a lateral slot extending longitudinally of said funnel shape and having an opening in said closed end, and a marking member, said marking member having a base, a projection point portion secured to said base, said point portion disposed for being inserted into said opening of said cap member, and said marking member carrying marking substances for marking a surface with which said marking member is brought into contact by said finger art device.
 2. A finger art device as defined in claim 1, said projection point portion of said marking member having a substantially circular diameter increasing with the distance from said base, said projection point portion of said marking member disposed for penetrating through said opening into said cap member and being freely orientable therein with respect thereto.
 3. The finger art device as defined in claim 2, said projection point portion being slotted along the longitudinal axis thereof.
 4. The finger art device as defined in claim 1 wherein said cap member is fixedly secured at a predetermined angle to said marking surface.
 5. The finger art device as defined in claim 1 wherein said marking substance is of a water color base.
 6. The finger art device as defined in claim 1 wherein said marking substance is an oil-base paint.
 7. The finger art device as defined in claim 1 wherein said marking substance has marking indicia.
 8. The finger art device as defined in claim 7 wherein said indicia is a ribbed surface.
 9. The finger art device as defined in claim 7 wherein said indicia is a serrated surface. 